In a story to be entered straight away in the “you gotta be kidding me” files, Oakland has decided to thwart a giant homeless encampment and stop copper thieves by… removing traffic lights at a four-way intersection and replacing them with stop signs. 

It’s hard to believe nobody has thought of this before. Another way authorities could get rid of the tent cities is to forcibly take away all the local businesses from their owners and house the homeless inside them. And maybe boot the mortgage-paying crowd from their houses to make even more room, while you're at it.

Why worry about the local citizenry? It’s Gavin Newsom’s Golden State, after all.

It’s like the city just gave up on them, one Oaklander said:

Oakland has been experiencing high crime and theft, including people stealing copper wires and the city's infrastructure, according to locals who spoke to CBS News. The city attempted to thwart criminals tampering with its electrical boxes by placing cement barriers over them – to no avail. Now, the city has taken to removing the traffic lights at a busy intersection and replacing them with stop signs. 

"It's just telling us that the city is giving up on us," said Tam Le, owner of Le's Auto Body & Engine Repair, nearby the intersection, told CBS News. "If you really want to fix the stop sign, I think you really have to clean up this homeless encampment." 

Clean up the homeless encampment?! Now that's a truly crazy idea.

Newsom’s California is DEVOLVING.

Due to repeated theft of the wire & people stealing power, Oakland replaced a stop light with a stop sign.

Business owner: “If you really want to fix the stop light, then you have to clean up this homeless encampment.” pic.twitter.com/Gme2ttncu0

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 19, 2024

Maybe it won’t make that much of a difference, since the lights were reportedly broken half the time anyway. 

[Resident] Mason Young said the stop signs are better than non-working traffic lights, which he blamed for a crash that sent a truck into the fence of Le's repair shop last year.

"The city did try to fix the traffic light at least a few times. But once they fixed it, normally within a week or so, it will go out again," said Le. 

The encampment is vast, and continues to expand:

The encampment stretches about three blocks on E. 12th street, between 17th and 14th Avenues. The city has made attempts to clear it previously, but it continues to grow larger.

"Many businesses already closed down on E. 12th St. And I don't know how long we're going to be here. Because once they move to our side of the sidewalk, we will be gone," said Le. 

The city said the stop signs are temporary, but they currently have no timeline on when they can put the traffic lights back up. 

Gov. Newsom and the progressive legislature have this type of encampment to brag about on their resumes:

A homeless encampment in Oakland, California. This is the “California model” that Gavin Newsom and other Democrats want for the rest of the country pic.twitter.com/msG80u78c0

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) April 8, 2024

But if you ask Newsom about his failed policies, he won’t discuss them; instead, he will repeat the word "mindful" about five times a sentence and then wax poetic about abortions and the dangers of red state governors.

The buck stops somewhere else:

Gavin Newsom Dodges Questions on California's Failed Homelessness Policies

One wonders if there’s a limit to how much punishment Californians can take or whether they’re so masochistic they’ll just keep voting incompetents like this into office until the only people left are criminals, government officials, and homeless people.

There’s always a worse alternative though:

Kamala May Already Be Lining Up Her Next Gig in Case Biden Loses, Terrifying Californians